


Footsteps

by Gwynne



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-10
Updated: 2012-06-10
Packaged: 2017-11-07 10:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/430290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwynne/pseuds/Gwynne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On Barrayar, anything done once becomes a tradition. But someone has to do it that first time...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Footsteps

There weren’t any raised voices. No yelling, no pleading, no anger. Miles had learned well from his parents, enough to avoid all those obvious mistakes, even when his heart was shattered, his ambitions blasted away, all his hopes and dreams destroyed. 

There was, of course, drama.

There was most definitely manipulation, emotional appeals, bargaining and obvious suffering. All from Miles’s side, despite the example set by his parents. Nature can overcome nurture when it wants something badly enough.

Finally Ekaterin decided that she’d allowed him enough time to sulk, and sat him down for a serious discussion. It took threats of appealing to Cordelia or Gregor, but she finally had him anchored on the couch in the Yellow sitting room, normally their peaceful refuge.

“Miles, he’s old enough to know what he wants to do.”

“But… he’s Vor. Vorkosigan. Vorkosigans have been military for… for ever. Generations. He’s the eldest son, and besides, he’d be good at it. He’s smart, controlled, strong, he can think on his feet, deal with any crisis…” Having Miles for a father gave good practice in crisis management.

“Miles. You’re right, he’d be a fine officer. If he wanted to be. But that’s not where his heart leads him.”

“But… engineering? Ekaterin, Vorkosigans are warriors, not… not engineers!”

“There’s nothing wrong with being an engineer, as my uncle could tell you.”

“Nothing wrong, but…” He jumped up and started pacing the room, “…we have a tradition going back for centuries. And look at all that Vorkosigans have done for the Empire!”

“Yes, Miles, look. Your grandfather, the youngest general ever, who drove off the Cetagandans. Your father, the youngest admiral, who conquered Komarr and followed it up with the Regency, Prime Ministership and running a planet as an easy retirement job. You – your own fleet, heading off at least two Cetagandan wars, and assorted heroics across the Nexus, as an admiral and then an Auditor. Miles, you found it hard to follow in the footsteps of two generations of brilliance. How do you think Aral feels about three?”

Even while he watched his dreams withering, Miles took a moment to preen at ‘brilliant’. But then, like a compass needle, he returned to his original heading, “But … he can do engineering in the military if he wants. He doesn’t have to go for Command. Not necessarily.”

“Love. It’s not his dream. And besides, this way he can be another Vorkosigan first. The first Vorkosigan to be an engineer - a new tradition begins.”

Miles kept pacing, stamping away his tension, “I suppose… and he could be the Vorkosigan who builds something amazing. Makes his mark on history that way…”

“Is that the price of admission?”

The pacing stopped. Miles stared blankly for a moment, then spoke slowly… 

“Oh ye gods. I’ve become my grandfather.” 

He collapsed onto the couch beside her. 

Ekaterin waited.

“Does he think… I didn’t mean… it’s just that…”

“It’s just that you grew up at the centre of the storm. You put such incredible pressures on yourself that you had to split yourself in two just to cope. You spent your life, and death, keeping up with almost impossible ideals.”

“And Aral has done the one thing I couldn’t do. He’s walked away from it all.”

Ekaterin frowned, “Not walked away. He’s walking his own way, wherever it chooses to take him. He’s making his decisions without reference to what’s gone before.”

“The only way to win is not to play. He chooses to be himself. Ohhh son, you got there more than a decade faster than I did.” Miles rested his head on Ekaterin’s shoulder. Her arm reached around him, they held each other, sharing warmth, sharing peace at last. 

Finally a small voice muttered, “…he could be head of a Ministry, perhaps. Or an Auditor, or…”

“Don’t push it, love. He will be whatever he chooses. That’s enough of an achievement, at least for now.”

“Yes. My son, the engineer. My son, the man who is helping to build the Empire. It’s time we had a Vorkosigan who builds things up instead of knocking them down.”

They sat in harmony for a while longer. 

“Ekaterin?”

“Miles?”

“Is it alright if I hope that Piotr wants to go to the Academy? No pressure, I won’t say anything, I promise, but can I hope…?”

Ekaterin laughed and kissed him, he was so eternally irrepressible, “Hope springs eternal. But, as a matter of fact, you might get a Vorkosigan in the military before Piotr. Aral has given his heart to engineering, but Helen sent her Academy application two days ago.”

Instantly he was off the couch and pacing again. “Helen? My little Helen? In the military? Does she have any idea how dangerous it is? The risks, the problems – she’s a girl!”

“Miles, you are an eternal hypocrite. Your mother was in the military. You spent a decade running a fleet that included a fair percentage of women. Helen has listened to your stories all her life. She’s also been kidnapped twice, escaped unassisted the first time and burned the building down during the second. She’s been trained by ImpSec experts in all kinds of unarmed combat. She’s a natural leader at school – or ringleader, at least. She scores in the top percentile in every entry subject. She shoots, pilots any vehicle she can get into, and she’s spent family camping trips in the Dendarii Mountains that make survival training look like a picnic. Miles, she’s been getting ready for this for years.”

“Helen? Alright, she’s got the skills, but she’s not very good at doing what she’s told. She’d be terrible at taking orders.”

“Yes, genetics has a lot to answer for.”

He paused to glare at her for a moment.

“Besides, she’s female. The Academy is for males.”

“Well, Gregor has been talking about breaking that barrier. Women in the military, it’s not the end of the world. Most of the Nexus copes perfectly well. And Helen has been working on the outline of a legal appeal, if they turn her down. She’s determined, unstoppably so. I can’t think where she gets it from.”

Another glare, lower wattage this time.

“A Vorkosigan… first female at the Academy?”

“One of the first. I understand Kareen Vorbarra is interested too. And Milla Galeni.”

Miles waved that away, “She’ll be setting a new record. And… and so is Aral. And all of the others, whatever they choose. Yes. Real success is being true to yourself. And that takes a lot of courage.”

Ekaterin watched as Miles talked himself through the storm.

“We need to talk to them all, make them understand that we love and value them no matter what they do. So long as they live with honour, and give their finest efforts to whatever they do, take pride in their work and love their family, that’s the greatest and most praiseworthy success they could achieve. And we’ll always be there for them. Do your best, get back up whenever you fall down, be true to yourself. Yes. We need to tell them.”

“Miles, love, they already know. But it’s good to say it again, anyway. And Aral will be pleased to know that you’re happy with his decision.”

“Of course! Has he looked at the different universities? We’ll need to find out which one has the best engineering department. And what kind of engineering does he want to do – there’s so many different branches. And the professors, we’ll have to find out who is the best in the field. Georg Vorthys can help us there. Come on, we’ll round them up and talk to them now. And have a special chat with Aral.”

This was one of the things Ekaterin loved most about Miles, watching how quickly he could change direction, take in new information and get up to full speed again.

But still, she couldn’t resist, “So… what if one of them doesn’t want to do any of that? Doesn’t want to do anything at all? What if Piotr just wants to be a town clown?”

Miles nodded decisively, “Then he damn well better be the best lover of fine foods, fine wines and fine women that Vorbarr Sultana has ever seen. And our family has set the bar pretty high on that, too.”


End file.
